Billโ Condon on the Resurgence of Musicals: Audiences Love Them, But Don’t Thinkโ They’re ‘Cool’
NEW YORK – Director โBillโ Condon believes audiences harborโฃ a secret affection for musicals, despite a perceived lack of โ”coolness” that historically hinders their success. Condon โshared these โinsights at the โฃpremiereโข of โค Kiss of the Spider Woman on October 6 in โฃNew York, reflecting on the genre’s cyclical rise and fall in popularity.
Condon noted โฃa decline in musicals through the 1970s andโข 80s, leading to a generational gap inโ familiarity with the form. He attributes the early 2000s revival to films like Moulin Rouge and Chicago, which “created this amazing fantasy world.” Thisโ paved โtheโค way for a decade of musicalsโ including Dreamgirls,Hairspray,and Les Miserables,gradually โre-acclimatingโ audiences. “My theory โis that people โreally like it, but don’t think it’s a thing. cool โขand they get nervous, so โฃyou have to make them feel comfortable,” Condon explained.
The director alsoโข expressed concern that theโฃ rise of streaming platforms and pandemic-era โฃviewing habits have โcreated challenges for large-scale โคmusical โproductions. He believes the lack of โขa shared communal experience impacts a musical’s potential. Kiss of the Spider โWoman was intentionally produced independently, with โคaโค modest budget, as “this story told correctly was never going to please โคanyone.” Condon hopes the film’s success will demonstrate the continued viability of musicals outside theโข realm ofโค blockbuster expectations, adding, “I like that we are somewhere betweenโฃ commercial and self-reliant, and I hope that enough viewersโ see it so that the investment is recovered.” Jennifer Lopez stars in the film.